No time to post, I'm chasing a baby!

Sometimes at nap time or bed time I just need to sit here and relish the silence and calm. Life with an eight month old is anything but.

At B's six month checkup I was worried that she could only roll in one direction, and couldn't sit on her own at all for even a second. Here we are two months later and she can sit, scoot on her butt, almost crawl, turn, throw things, and grab anything in her reach. She can also cruise along the sofa and ottoman if I stand her up. She'll pull herself up on me if I'm sitting on the floor with her, and I caught her trying to pull herself up in the crib the other day. She hasn't really tried it on the furniture yet, but as I sit here watching her as I type, she pulled herself up from sitting to standing with the use of her toy chest. Heart attack time.

As for the throwing... OMG. I'm just waiting for something to go through the TV. Living in a tiny NYC apartment, things are tight, so the TV is never far from throwing distance. I've thought about mounting it higher up, but our walls are either steel and some sort of material we've tried to drill into and can't, or cardboard, so I don't think mounting is a possibility.

Really, she's such a pleasure. She's content, giggly, smiley, and adorable. I could sit and watch her all day, and generally, I do. She "dances" when she hears music, and "sings" when we get in the car. She travels well, and sleeps easily in new places. Last week I went to see my sister and it was so fun to watch her with my 15 month old nephew. This weekend we'll be seeing him again, along with my 11, 12, and 14 month old cousins. It seems like a lifetime ago that I would have been avoiding this upcoming weekend like the plague.

But sometimes no news is good news!

Congratulations to B at no news isn't always good news, and her husband C on the arrival of beautiful Charlotte Joan! I'd been waiting in anticipation for days since her water broke on Sunday.

Congratulations, and welcome to the world, Charlotte!

Clarification

If anyone is wondering what the hubbub is all about in the comments on my previous post...

Sara Staker is a woman who let her 18 month old child drown.

Some of her followers who have commented below allude to her "turning her head for a second," but by Sara's own admission in her blog, she did not merely turn her head. She left the room while her children were in the bathtub.

I started their water.
I put them in the tub with their fish toys and their boats.
I set out their towels. I played with them a few minutes while the tub filled.
I ran their water a few inches deep. I turned off the faucet.
I poked my head around the corner into our bedroom to check on Trevan.
I told him he looked cold and suggested he go get his pajamas on.
He said he was too tired to go get them.
And... so I left...
Which turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life...
I should have been more attentive.
I should never have walked away from that tub....
I walked down the hallway to Trevan and Daynen's room to get Trevan his pajamas.
I should have come straight back...
But I noticed Daynen's bed was still unmade.
And I saw the Laundry basket full of clean clothes
that Matt had carefully set on the end of the bed that morning,
ready to be put away when Trevan did his chores.
So I thought I'd be nice and do it for him.
I took the shirts Matt had hooked over the side and hung them on the rod in Trevan's closet.
I took the folded stack of jeans and placed them on the shelf.
I straightened the row of shoes on the floor.
While I was in the closet, I got out a diaper and onesie
so I could get Daynen dressed when I got him out of the tub.
I closed the closet door...
Basket in hand, I stepped over to the dresser to put away the socks and underwear.
I heard a muffled shout from Trevan.
I set the basket down, alarmed.
Then Trevan came running,
"Mom! Mom! Bronson drowned in the tub! I think he's dead!"
I ran.
It was very far to the bathtub.
He was floating on his back. White. Lips blue. Eyes rolled back. Gone.

That is not turning your head for a second. She was gone for minutes. That is carelessness. Negligence. Criminal.

She wrote the above a day or two after the incident while her child was still in the hospital. It's a lengthy, verbose description of the events of the day, which include telling off a police detective who dared to want to question her about the drowning. Add a charge of Obstruction of Justice to the charge of Reckless Engangerment of a Child. Oh, that's right, she's not being charged with anything.

Bronson did live. Through the miracle of modern medicine. A miracle of God? No. I believe in God. I believe miracles can happen. Had Bronson suddenly sat up after having CPR administered, sure, that would have been a miracle. Instead, Bronson had an experimental procedure performed on him, and was in a coma for thirteen days. That is medicine. Bronson doesn't appear to have any brain damage. Ok, that's a miracle. His life, I believe, is due to modern medicine, and nothing more.

I do not hate Mormons. I am not jealous. I'm not full of hate, angry, or whatever else the pollyanna commenters on my blog and Sara's blog have said. That's nonsense. The comments on the story from the Today Show that I've linked to above pretty much concur with what I feel. Yes, I do believe Sara Staker needs to be held responsible. I do believe that if she was not a member of such a tight-knit community in Salt Lake City, and instead a poor woman in the inner city somewhere, that she would be behind bars right now.

Options

I belong to a private forum of women who are TTC/Pregnant/Mommies. We began as strangers on a public message board when we were all getting marrried, and many of us evolved into this private forum now. So, we've grown to know each other very well. We've been there through births, losses, struggles, death. We've had members who lost their infants, and members with children with cancer. We also have quite a number of members who are struggling to conceive.

Yesterday a member who is pregnant with baby number three wrote that at her 18 week ultrasound, they discovered her child MIGHT have a club foot. She's beside herself. Worried how her child won't be perfect, and she's stunned, and she just wants to go back to her normal life. Overreaction, much? No. Oh no. Not even close to an overreaction compared to her husband. Her husband is "very upset and thinks they can't handle it and they should think about options." Are you fucking for real? REALLY? Considering "options" over a club foot? Something that can be fixed with a brace or surgery? Never mind the fact that it hasn't even been confirmed, it's only a possibility.

There are several members that are very upset, myself included. There are several members that are still struggling that would do anything to have that child. We've questioned her what exactly she means by "options" but hasn't answered us. I'll be shocked if she does. I'll be shocked if she shows her face there again, yet I won't be shocked if she does show up there again and not a word is uttered about this.

Memories

My baby smells like my Grandmother. Not constantly, but every once in a while I get a whiff of Grandma's Ivory soap that she always used. I've never bought Ivory soap or any other Ivory products, and all of the soaps and detergents I use on B are unscented. I first noticed it last night as I was giving her her last bottle before putting her to bed for the evening, and it brought me to tears. Just a few minutes ago when I put her down in her exersaucer so I could check my email and have a much-needed cup of coffee, I smelled it again. At this moment she's talking to someone or something up near the ceiling, occasionally reaching for it as it seems to move around, and although she's about 5 feet away from me, I can smell Ivory.

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm just missing her and my dad terribly and I'm grasping at straws here. She's been gone for a little over 9 years now. I really hope B has the same wonderful relationship with my mom as I had with my Grandmother, and that she has her in her life for even longer than I did.

Airport Security

3:15am Saturday morning we woke up to head to the airport to fly to Florida. This was after a 2 hour car ride to get to the airport, and a night in a hotel. I was exhausted to say the least. Seven of us got to the airport at about 5am for a 7am flight. Four adults, one 5 year old, a 22 month old, and a 6 month old. Our little family of 3 took up 6 bins at security. Then, as usual, I set off the metal detector. It's always my underwire. Always. They always insist it's not, and then then wand me, and guess what? It is my underwire. So, B and I are in the little wanding area, the rest of our group is repacking all our bags and theirs, and the TSA agent is being a chattering conversationalist. We got to our gate as they were calling the third group for boarding.

That alone was reason enough to do nothing for the next 7 days.

I think I hate the pediatrician

Bonus: it's not just one doctor, it's an entire practice of 7 doctors.

I took B for her 6 month well-check the other day, and I had a few questions and very mild concerns. I left feeling like I come from another planet.

First we'll start with Dr. K. As of 2 weeks ago, B's chart is marked that she is never to see him. My extreme dislike of him started at her very first visit at 5 days old. He's always come off as arrogant, and has a terrible bedside manner. The final straw was at the appointment 2 weeks ago, which was for shots. I asked him when she would get the chicken pox vax, and then said I was considering not giving it to her. He pretty much called me stupid. "That would be a dumb thing to do. Don't you know what the risks of chicken pox are? She could die!" Look dickhead, people have been getting chicken pox for years and living. Death is rare. I had it, the husband had it, millions of people my age had it, and we're still here to tell the tale. It's fine if the doctor disagrees with me on whether to give it to her or not, but to not discuss my concerns with me is not acceptable. Being that it wasn't the first or second or third time I didn't like the way this doctor spoke to me, I'd had enough.

Yesterday at her well-check, the Dr. C, whom I'd liked in the past, suggested I start giving B eggs so that she can have the flu shot, specifically the H1N1 shot. So, I asked if I should give her the whole egg, or just the yolk. I'd read, and know from friends, that most doctors suggest not giving egg white before a year because they can trigger allergies. Dr. C said he'd never heard of that, and just go ahead and give her the whole egg. Ok, then. So, then I expressed my concern with giving her the H1N1 shot, and I said I wasn't really comfortable with it. I didn't get it myself, I didn't get a regular flu shot, and neither did the husband. Again, instead of addressing my concerns, he steamrolled right over me and said to make an appointment for 2-3 weeks after I've given her eggs for her to have the H1N1 shot. Another strike.

I then asked about Dr. Sears' dosage for Tylenol, because his chart indicates a bit more than the practice had advised me to give her. Dr. C had no idea who Dr. Sears is. For real? Then he mumbles something about how many milliliters in suspension per kilo she could have if i really felt like she needed it, but really all I heard was "blah blah blah just give her what I told you and stop asking silly questions." Never heard of Dr. Sears. I was stunned.

My last "big" issue from the visit is more that I didn't get an answer that I wanted to hear, but it's enough to bother me. We'll be going to Florida soon, and I wanted to know if there was any particular sunscreen he recommended for her. I was hoping to hear some all-natural, good for babies brand. Instead, he told me to just go to Target and the store brand marked for "sensitive skin" would be just fine. Really? I mean, yeah, I know it's fine, but I'm a little more concerned than that about putting chemicals on her skin. This is more my own issue. I know this. I'm not full on nutty-crunchy-I only shop at Whole Foods-granola, but I do try to only give B organic food, and use all-natural products, or at least the least-harmful chemicals, as often as possible. There have been other things in the past that this particular doctor said to use, like baby oil, which most doctors frown upon these days for whatever reason, that really surprised me, so this was yet another straw on the camel's back.

I told the husband about these things, and a few others, when I got home, and he thinks I'm being a little too sensitive. Ok, sometimes I am too sensitive, but I don't think this is a case. He agrees with me on the H1N1 shot, and I think I'm going to cancel that appointment. She needs a few boosters before her next well-check, so I'm going to go through with those, and then hubs is going to come with me to her 9 month well-check and do some question asking of his own, so he can gauge their concern. (Yeah, right, I want to see him ask a question! When that man isn't at work he shuts it like a clam.) I don't want to look for a new pediatrician, but I have a feeling I will be.